Three rounds into the Pan American Championships (Dec.26-30,Washington, D.C)favorites University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and University of Maryland Baltimore Country (UMBC) are leading. 12/30 UPDATE: UTD has prevailed in the Pan-ams, with the A and B teams tying for first. Full report coming soon.
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It's no secret that a handful of chessplayers have flocked to poker in recent years, attracted by large prizes and the possibility of instant fame. CLO presents our top ten reasons to stick with the royal game.
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Precocious writer and chessplayer Jonathan Hilton explores how GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (1963-2006) won in a series "How Wojo Won." In this part, Hilton focuses on the closed lines of the Catalan, a pet variation of Wojt's. He explains the most typical pawn structures, and analyzes six Wojtkiewicz Catalan games.
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The President of the North Carolina Chess Association, Randy Wheeless shares a story about how much joy a few chess sets gave to Namibian schoolchildren. In the spirit of the Holidays, Randy points out: "Some small effort on your part could have an enormous effect on someone else's life."
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IM Justin Sarkar is on top of his game. He followed up a win in King's Island with a stellar result at the National Chess Congress. The best was yet to come though- In December 2006, Justin won his first GM norm at the Marshall Chess Club Championship. In a fascinating interview, Jerry and Justin converse on rating inflation, parental pressure and autism.
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The Grade School Nationals(December 8-10, Orlando) report by Elizabeth Vicary includes tidbits of wisdom from coaches Sunil Weermantry and David MacEnulty, exciting games by 11th grade sweeper Daniel Ludwig and 9th grade co-champ Shunsaku Uesugi and lots of pictures. Also enclosed is a photo gallery by Betsy Dynako!
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In this month's list rating points mysteriously appear and vanish, showing us which GMs were naughty or nice in belatedly rated International events. CLO columnist Joel Benjamin joins the Top Ten for the first time since April 2004.
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CLO problem columnist Dr. Dowd subtitles his December series, "Moving on To Meredith", in reference to Merediths, problems with 12 pieces or less. Take a break from Holiday shopping to enjoy and attempt to solve eight stunners, along with four bonus queries. E-mail your solutions to drdowd@uschess.org.
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GM Alexander Onischuk reports from the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup (Nov.16-24), where his Olympic teammate Varuzhan Akobian also played. Alex presents us with the event's game highlights, photos, and tells us what it was like to play chess with the President of the Phillipines.
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The 2006 Grade Nationals is held at the luxurious Disney's Coronado resort in Orlando.

Update: Access complete results and check on Friday morning for the full story! The Grade Nationals, split up into 13 different sections based on grade, kicked off today in a luxurious Orlando result. Elizabeth Vicary reports on the blitz tournament and previews the tournament favorites.
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The cover of David Bronstein's instructional, personal book, (co-written with Tom Furtsenberg) invites readers to become Bronstein's apprentice.

David Bronstein (1924-2006) was a World Championship contender and an acclaimed chess artist. He died Tuesday,December 5th,2006 in Minsk, Belarus of unknown causes. Bronstein was a pioneer in attack, writing and time control. He will be sorely missed.
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Four spots are available in the upcoming elections for the USCF executive board, the governing body of the USCF. Candidates petitions and filing fees are due by Jan.10,2007. Read the full story for details on how you can get involved!
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